ABSTRACT
Criminologists typically have a low opinion of politics and, for the most part, take a low level of interest in it. They tend to be fearful of the ways in which politics intrudes on crime control. This chapter proposes an alternative orientation for criminology towards democratic politics, one animated not by dreams of escape but, instead, by hopes of renewal. The drawing of crime into explicit political contest is a contingent matter. It varies across time and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and is shaped by the institutional configurations and cultures of given societies. There are several ways in which this internal connection between criminology and politics might be developed. One can treat the political field as a struggle for power, and resistance to its operation and effects, between groups with different interests. Michael Freeden’s work sits within an extended and rich social scientific debate about the concept of ideology and ideology critique.
